Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is the most important traditional holiday in China. It is a time of celebration, when families and friends gather together to welcome the new year with abundant feasts and colorful festivities. The festival begins on the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar and lasts for 15 days, with the Lantern Festival marking the end of the celebrations on the 15th day. The preparations for the Chinese New Year start well in advance. Homes are thoroughly cleaned to sweep away any ill-fortune and make way for incoming good luck. Windows and doors are decorated with red color paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of good fortune, happiness, wealth, and longevity. The eve of the Chinese New Year is perhaps the most exciting part of the event, as anticipation creeps in. Families gather around for a reunion dinner, where they bid farewell to the past year and express their hopes and dreams for the new year.

The Chinese New Year is not just a time to celebrate the coming of the new year, but also a time to reflect on the year that has passed. It is a time to show respect for one’s elders, to reunite with family and friends, and to wish for a future filled with prosperity, joy, and good fortune. The festivities are marked by the lighting of firecrackers, the performance of traditional music and dance, and the making and sharing of special foods, each with its own symbolic meaning. For example, dumplings, which are thought to resemble gold ingots, symbolize wealth and prosperity, while long noodles represent a long life. Oranges, with their round shape and golden color, symbolize fullness and wealth. The giving of red envelopes, or hongbao, containing money is a traditional practice at this time, and it is a way to share blessings and good wishes.